Current work: Medical, polishing
Listening to: Corelli
Reading: Carol Marinelli, One Magical Christmas (the heroine is fabulous - reminds me a bit of Carol herself, who's warm and kind and bubbly and enormous fun)
Busy polishing book yesterday… and waiting in for plumbers. Am pleased that now we have a working sink in the utility room, plus the dehumidifiers are gone. Next: plasterers in. (Awaiting date.)
The roads were atrociously icy this morning, but the sky was very pretty – big pink fluffy clouds, streaked with grey, which Madam decreed looked like a polar bear breathing fire.
Got home – and we had a visitor in the garden. It was a bird, about the size of a blackbird, except it was bright yellow (canary yellow) and had a ruby-red forehead. I’ve Googled without success. Anyone have any idea what I saw? I was going to take a photograph, but just as I tiptoed back into the kitchen, he flew off...
Going to brave the icy roads in a minute and see Dad. And then back to the book.
10 comments:
Heaven's, Kate -- it sounds like something exotic that's escaped from an aviary.
Gorgeous weather in the west today, too.
Not a 'green' woodpecker, Kate? We get them here and they can sometimes be very yellow indeed.
Hi kate looks like you saw a African Golden-Weaver on a family of it. lt is the only pne l can think of that has that head.
Common garden birds that are yellow in colour include the greenfinch and the siskin. It sounds like a yellowhammer to me, though, although it might be a bit yellow for this time of year. Try the RSPB bird identifier: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/
It's fun. :o)
Actually, I'm sure I know what bird it is - certain I've seen one. In open farmland. But I can't remember the name. Pity, my ex-husband would be able to tell you straight away ...
If it was a ruby red beak rather than forehead, then it might have been an oriole. I've seen orioles and I think that's the bird I was thinking of. RSPB has the green woodpecker as a lookylikey.
Right ... work ... :o)
Liz - I did wonder! Has turned out to be beautifully sunny now.
Jan - we do have woodpeckers in the trees behind us. Could be. The pic of a green woodpecker on the RSPB identifier thingy looks greener than the one I saw, though.
Avi - thanks for the suggestion - have Googled for pics and nope, not it.
Diane, it was REALLY yellow. Canary yellow (and yup, I know Norwich canaries are actually red *g*). With some black flecky bits. And a very, very ruby red head. Was a bit bigger than a blackbird, but not quite as big as a wood pigeon (I do know what those two look like *g*).
Thanks for the tip re the bird identifier. The woodpecker looked like it except it was more yellow.
Also Googled oriole pic. Nope. Not that.
Hopefully it'll come back to snack on the Bramley windfalls and I'll get a pic next time.
Post a Comment